Source Interpretation Written Assignment Final Copy

Source Interpretation Written Assignment

Social 10-1
Ronni Burrows

    What impact does globalization have on a world? Has it enhanced us as a globe, or has it weakened us as individuals? There is a heated discussion about the true influences of globalization and if it really is such an advantageous thing. Good or bad, there isn't much argument as to whether or not it's happening. If you look at the tag on your shirt, chances are you would see that it was made in a country other than the one in which you sit right now. Before it reached your wardrobe, that shirt could have very well been made with Chinese cotton, sewn by Thai hands, shipped on a French freighter crewed by Spaniards to a Los Angeles harbor. Essentially an economic phenomenon, globalization could only be envisioned in the context of wider interaction between different cultures; I instead believe that globalization has in fact lessened us as individuals. Globalization should shape the identity not create it so that individuals and collective identities are lost or forgotten. Our daily globalization, media convergences, and our economics are all big factors as to what keeps us from maintaining our distinctiveness, and as an alternative of being an individual.

    To what extent should globalization shape our identity? In our hybridized world, many of our sources express the positive aspects of our globalized domain. They all tell about our access to foreign culture in the form of movies, music, food, clothing, and more. In short, the world has more choices.  Still, they say globalization is the process of increased interconnection among countries, most notably in the areas of economics, politics, and culture. For example; McDonalds in Japan, French films being played in Minneapolis, and the United Nations, are all representations of globalization. Society is modernizing at a rapid rate and there is nothing we can do about that. But people around the world need to come to realize the importance of cultural diversity, unique traditions, and personal identities apart from one other. Although different cultures from around the world are able to interact, they begin to meld, and the contours and individuality of each begin to fade. One of the strongest critics to globalization comes from the fear that such a process might erode national cultures and individual identities.

    Today, the original American kids show "Sesame Street" appears in more than 120 countries. Children in 65 countries have viewed the series in its English‐language form and in addition, the program has been re-made in 13 other languages.  The producer of Sesame Street owns a lot more than just a TV show. Media convergences are bringing together media companies; a newspaper, a textbook publisher, a phone company, a TV network, and a movie production company may all be owned by a single transnational corporation. Not only has the Americans’ show Sesame Street been shared across the world but in particular the Americans’ outlook in general. We adopt American ways, and their media has a big influence on the outcomes of the rest of the world. Americans are interrogating other cultures identities. Today, communication technologies are changing so quickly that the rate of revolution has become far faster than ever before. Cell phones, television, and the Internet have come to affect nearly every aspect of people’s lives. The word distribution simply means to spread out, and that is exactly what any new found knowledge does. When a new development or way of doing something emits, it does not stay secret for long. The media aspect of globalization is making us lose one of the things that count the most: our identity, the uniqueness in us, that which makes us special and allows us to stand out from the crowd.

    Although bananas may only look like a fruit, they represent a wide variety of economic problems. The banana trade symbolizes economic imperialism and injustices in the global trade market. As one of the first tropical fruits to be exported, bananas were a cheap way to bring the tropics to North America and Europe. But why so cheap? People who work for banana companies work for very little money, that’s why we can buy them for so little in our local grocery stores. Bananas have become such a common, inexpensive grocery item that we often forget where they come from and how they got here. The transnational corporations, most notably Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte, have been linked to the World Trade Organization. What I think source three was really showing is that big brand names for either an industry or an item in the store can over show smaller brands or local stores. Mass consumption of products brought up by international trade in cultural and other sectors may be seen as negative because it crowds out self-produced, traditional and locally manufactured goods and services. How does this affect your identity? The influences of big brands helps fuel the economy by motivating buyers and supporting sellers. Your brain perceives what the average person buys and believes it’s normal and that you should have it too. Everyone needs to feel connected with others and be with others who share attitudes, interests, and circumstances that resemble their own. But why can’t we be unique. I feel that big brand like Chiquita are only making us the same as everyone else. We need to embrace our own uniqueness and think for ourselves instead

    It is obvious that neither globalization nor cultural identities are neutral concepts. But no matter what your opinion, globalization is happening. Globalization should create the diversity within our world and create the uniqueness within ourselves. As today’s global economy continues to expand, we know neither if globalization is making us better as a world or worse. But just imagine a world where everyone eats the same stuff, wears the same clothes, and listens to the same music. How dull would that be? Our daily lives, media, and our economics all support a huge role of what makes us who we are. As a globe, we need to hold our individuality and continue the diversity between one other.